We've determined that Kadin is about 99.87% fearless. He does however have one terror that is quite intense; Gollum.
This past week I picked up a copy of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. As Tonia had not yet seen that one and was also a bit rusty on the first two LOTR installments, she watched the first two movies during the week. Our plans were to watch Return of the King on Friday night once she was all caught up.
While a good portion of the movie viewing was done during Kadin's nap times, there were times while he was present and taking in the excitement himself.
I didn't fully believe that he could be that scared. From what Tonia described (I didn't witness the first few instances) he sobbed long and hard within seconds of seeing/hearing Gollum on the screen.
Fortunately, Kadin loves music. Generally no matter what has him crying, putting on MuchMusic or MTV will calm him down within seconds.
So it's a bit of twisted irony that one time when Tonia used our little trick, the MTV Movie awards were on and, of all people, Andy Serkis (the voice of Gollum) was presenting an award when Gollum came on stage and did a bit with him. Good times!
So on Friday night we're watching Return of the King, bringing the volume down to 1 and singing very loudly whenever Gollum appeared or spoke. Sometimes it worked unless it was a close-up of Gollum, in which case all bets were off.
As I write this I realize we sound like cruel and unusual parents, because I just so happened to rent the Xbox Return of the King video game. The game closely follows the movie, so playing it while Kadin is around has been something of a challenge.
The system we've worked out is that if Gollum is on screen, I jump between Kadin & the TV (controller still in hand), Tonia turns the volume down and we both start singing really really loudly.
It's just a mystery to us why he's so scared. I mean, if he can stand my singing, Gollum's raspy voice should NOT phase him.
I guess it's all about balance though. On one end, a fictional computer generated character scares him. On the other, he played with the plastic mold from a Turtles box from 6-8 AM while I lay in a coma on the couch, and LOVED it.
We just put up some new pics from May 6 to May 20. Some really cute ones in there..have a look.
So Hasan and I have a debate going right now about when we think Kadin will walk. He does quite a bit of walking right now but is holding onto anything he can find. So Hasan assumes Kadin will be walking well within the next month or so. I think it will be closer to him being one or a little over that. Now to Hasan's credit Kadin lets go as well. He is very brave and likes to test the waters of standing. But we shall see.
Kadin is becoming more vocal everyday as well. He says so much all the time. Now mind you besides the scattered "duck", "dog", and or "mom" its mostly gibberish(sp?) but at least he is giving it his best shot. Oh and the squealing....who knew boys squealed? I can remember before having a baby thinking I wanted a boy because I thought I would avoid those types of sounds. Yet again something I was wrong about. The sounds this child makes would make milk currdle..I swear. I laugh and cry and take advil all at the same time.
Enjoy the pics!!!
Seems the picture gallery may have been down for awhile. Rest assured all is fixed.
Its been a few weeks since my birthday and I got some wonderful gifts from Hasan and Kadin....but yesterday Hasan's family was gracious enough to send me something. It is a beautiful candle holder with beach stones, some yummy lip gloss, coconut soap and the cutest little card. Thank you very much.
Ok crying baby. The standing...the wobbling...the falling and the crying...welcome to my day. :)
That's what we are....for not updating more. Ok now I'm over it. heh
So Kadin is a little mover now let me tell ya. He walks around all day long. Holding onto things of course but he has so much balance and he is so brave. He holds on with one hand, lets go, walks quickly. Its amazing. Its like in 2 months he has reached so many milestones.
He crawls so quickly I can't even describe it. We walk him around the apartment now instead of carrying him. He just loves it. His little knees are getting so tough. I'm sure he will walk soon. Not as soon as Hasan thinks but soon enough.
Of late Hasan and I have also noticed that somehow we have created a child that thinks he has to cry for everything. It may be a phase as Kadin tests the waters of what works and what doesnt. Hasan and I try extremely hard not to respond to the behaviour and we are hoping that will curb it.
Kadin is very chatty as well now and likes to talk to himself endlessly as he wobbles around the house. He also talks to the TV, the dogs, his toys and even us ocassionally if he finds us interesting.
We have turned a corner in his sleeping I would say. Kadin now sleeps until at least 5 am before waking for a bottle. At which point he takes it and for the most part will stay in his own bed until later in the morning. As time goes by we are hoping he will stop waking for the bottle. Right now its only a 4 oz and he drinks next to nothing of it sometimes but we can tell he is hungry and not just thirsty.
Oh yes and to end this post I have a great story to tell.
A few weeks ago the building next to us - filled with condos- caught fire. Hasan was outside with the dogs and came running in. He told me all about it and then said there was a 3 person family out there. Ya know mom, dad and kid. They kid was crying and only in PJ's and the mom was in her bare feet. Hasan took a blanket Kadin's Gauntie Wanda made him and slippers for the mom. The family asked for our buzz number and said they would return the stuff once her mom got there to help them.
No buzz. And there was no buzz for almost 3 weeks. Hasan and I were quite perplexed. What should we do? Well being me I eventually got mad and said get my stuff back. Ya know especially the blanket. We were surprised and talked often about how the people could do that given we were so nice to them. Hasan decided he would go to the building the next day and ask around and see if he could find them and our stuff.
That evening came a knock on the door. The father stood there with our slippers and blanket. He also had flowers and a card for us thanking us.
Hasan had almost lost faith in the human race I think and mine was somewhat restored.
OH and Kadin is glad to have is blanket back.
More pics to come soon.
I have various small scars on my face which I've accumulated over the last 26 years; a hairless spot on my left eyebrow from hitting my head on a coffee table while chasing Maham around, a 3 inch groove on my check from (so I've been told) a cousin scratching me, a small hairless spot on my upper lip from shaving for the first time (in grade 6) without the use of shaving lotion or water (and going against the grain no less, ouch!).
That's nice, you're probably thinking, but what's his point?
MY POINT is that I think I got off pretty luck, at least compared to what we've seen Kadin up to over the last few days! I've lost count of how many times he's whacked himself on something.
You've already read what Tonia wrote, so I won't repeat that. Every day though we watch him pull himself up and stand with the aid of the couch, a chair, his piano etc. We also watch him teeter, laugh maniacally, teeter some more, scream for no apparent reason, then fall headfirst into some random piece of furniture or toy.
Now it really, really is painful for Tonia and I to endure this. On one hand, we (ok, me) wants to leap over furniture, clutch him to our (ok, my) chest, and sob with him until he feels better. At the same time, we realize that freaking out will invariably make him cry harder, so Tonia and I have become these odd creatures who start laughing REALLY loudly, singing REALLY loudly, and clapping (you guessed it!) REALLY loudly!
It works, because within seconds he's laughing and smiling again.
So...we're going to try and be troopers and get through this. That, or force him to live in a sterile bubble until he's 18.
Must go now because Kadin just ruptured Tonia's spleen. Did I mention he likes to jump on us?
So anyways Kadin now has 4 teeth. The fouth took its time and was painful for him but at least its out. He actually took a step from the coffee table to me yesterday as well. You know how they do that guiding with their hands till they figure it all out? Well he did that. Everyone is convinced he will walk before 1 year. We shall see.
Kadin is a mad crawler though. It is a constant run around the apartment to keep him from hurting himself Although he spends a lot of his day crying over whatever fall he has just taken. I try not to baby him though and only give comfort when he truly needs it. Like yesterday when I stepped on him.
Yep you read that right. I lay him in the floor to get his teether ring from the freezer. Grady walked in front of me and Kadin moved without me noticing. I stumbled to get away from Grady and stepped down on Kadin's arm. Well many tears were shed over being a bad mother. Kadin laughed and all was over. *sigh* AND YES we checked. He is fine.